Price of 2nd hand HiFi equipment - You can no longer buy a HiFi for £99

[Fandango Andy]

I was recently advised someone looking for a 2nd hand, budget integrated amp. I started with my usual advice: Marantz, NAD, and Cambridge Audio from the early 2000's offers the best bang for buck. Older and you start to pay a "vintage" premium, and they may have less life left in them. Newer will cost more for no real gain. There are other great brands worth considering, but I find these three to be a great place to start.

It quickly became clear that 2nd hand price (like prices in general) have crept up with things that cost around £50 a couple of years ago creeping very close to £100 or even more in a few cases. This made me decide to revisit my £99 experiment.

Two years ago I tracked prices on the basic components of a budget system to see how cheaply you could realistically get on the first rung of the HiFi ladder. these are genuine prices paid (not by me) on ebay in Jan/Feb 2024.

• Cambridge Audio A4 £38
• Mission M72 £34
• Chromecast Audio 2nd Gen £27

Thread '£99 to get into HiFi?'

Feb 24, 2024

There is no doubt the would of HiFi and Audiophile can be an expensive hobby, but how much does it cost to get started?

Having recently helped someone find a record player, I was surprised at how much second-hand gear has gone up in recent years. I shouldn't have been surprised, everything else has gone up! This along with a few recent posts by people asking advice for their first system got me wondering how much it would really cost to get started. So I started searching eBay for second hand components. Had I got the space for another system, I would probably have purchased a few...

• Fandango Andy
• Replies: 24
• Forum: Hi-Fi

• 

This time I didn't put as much time in, just looking at starting prices, and followed a few auctions that ended yesterday, as well as "buy it now prices". The conclusions I came to; entry level Marantz, NAD, and Rotel are regularly selling for £65 to £95 and nice examples have exceeding £100. Cambridge Audio's entry level falls below these brands and can still be found bellow £50, but they also have models that are on a par with and similarly priced to the other three.

Mission M71 and M72 are achieving around £75, the price you would have paid for Mission 701 which are now over £100.

Chromecast Audio 2nd Gen seem to be around £35 to £45, but realistically you are probably better off stretching to £89 (often on sale for £80) for a WiiM Mini.

The big shock was CD players which were very cheap a few years ago, but are on the way up. Turn of the century entry level models from Marantz, NAD, Cambridge Audio, and Rotel are coming in at between £75 and £100

So what is the 2026 equivalent to the £99 HiFi?

• Like for like today £160 to £195
• Upgrade to WiiM Mini £205 to £239
• Add a CD Player £235 to £314

This is by no means definitive, there are bargains to be had, or you may wish to spend more to get a particular component. And finally the person I was advising took by best peace of ebay advice. Look for "collection only" in you area as they don't get many bids. They bagged a great deal, an immaculate NAD C300 for £38. It even came with a the original box and instructions, and the little green power button was intact!

 

[makinmusic]

I've been tracking some prices recently for graphics equalisers specifically technics and Nad. Ranging any where from 50 pound broken to 995 pound I purchased mine for 60 pound guy wanted 85 but I offered a cheeky bid
But I seen the same exact graphics equaliser up on eBay for 995 pound couldn't help but chuckle thinking you'll never get that price or I got a very good deal.

 

[record_spot]

You might not be able to buy a new hifi for £99, but you could get a nice little Sony system on Ebay that looked like a nice little setup for about £200. TA-F242 amp with a CD player and a tuner. You could shop around to get something for less no doubt, and admittedly, it's not the better 246 amp that was a smart looking thing in the 90s (around the £250 mark itself and vastly overlooked in favour of the usual suspects of the day). Still, not a bad deal for all that. Just add speakers.

Oh alright, £300 then....!

 

[Witterings]

Certainly the cost of new has gone through the roof and that's probably part of what's driven up 2nd hand prices.
But also, as the economy is pretty pants and no consumer confidence, people don't want to spend, someone who may "splash out" for new in a more buoyant and stable environment may look at 2nd hand, again propping up and supporting prices .... even if it's a stop gap until they have a more confidence in the economy.

Good for those who've got some equipment they're thinking about moving on 😀

 

[freeagent]

I went back in time for mine, back to when I was an early teen. Late 80s early 90s for my pre amp and power amp. My speakers are from the late 90s, and my main source is my computer.. which is quite modern lol. For the last ~15 years I have been messing with AVRs from Denon, Marantz, NAD. All great for movies and stuff like that, always disappointing for music. Now that I am back to a strictly 2 channel only setup, I am much happier. Even my subs sound better.

 

[RoA]

Sure you can still put a system together for under a hundred quid. You just have to be patient.